I like to think I take pride in my appearance. Although, as I’ve mentioned previously, my wardrobe since becoming a mum consists mainly of jeans and a variety of striped tops, I make sure my hair is brushed before I leave the house and I apply basic makeup daily.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve considered having surgery before. I have always had fairly small boobs and I had just about accepted this when I started having children and breastfeeding increased their size, only to cruelly take them back down to an A cup once again.

I still haven’t entirely ruled out going under the knife and yet, somehow botox, a non surgical procedure, was something I turned my nose up at. It seemed vain, and to be honest a little pointless to me (yes, I know I’m a hypocrite for what I just said about my boobs). Then there’s all the ‘bad’ botox images that get splashed over magazines and the horror stories about things going wrong you see on social media. Botox, I had decided, was something that definitely wasn’t for me. No frozen face for this lady.

Last week I posted a review of products from the skincare brand sk:n and on Tuesday afternoon I was invited along to the launch of sk:n’s clinic in Bournemouth (previously Even Lines). A brand I hadn’t heard of before, I had read up a little about sk:n prior to the launch so I had an idea of what they were all about. Therefore I turned up more than a little dubious, after all, this kind of thing wasn’t for me.

I arrived slightly late as I had to wait for Ed to finish work to have the children, and I walked into the clinic in Pokesdown during a talk by Dr Linda Eve. I watched her presentation with great interest and was impressed with how thorough her knowledge and experience was in the field. Botox is not the only non surgical treatment offered at the clinic, they provide an array of different procedures from hydra facials to skin peels.

After the talk we were invited to watch some of the procedures being carried out there and then. Warned it wasn’t for the squeamish, I had no qualms in going in and got myself a front row seat for the action. I watched two lots of botox being administered and also a lady having fillers injected into her face.

The whole time Dr Linda explained what she was doing, went into further detail about the procedures and the risks that can be involved as well as how she ensures these risks are minimal. Although botox takes a few days for the results to be seen, the fillers give an instant change to the appearance.

It was lovely to be able to chat to those having the procedures done as well, and to hear how practically pain free it was for them. I’m fine watching others have things done but I wasn’t sure how I would cope myself as I am terrified of blood tests. Dr Linda reassured me that it was a different experience entirely.

Unlike some clinics, Dr Linda and the staff at sk:n were keen to stress that treatments such as botox aren’t a good idea too early on, unless there’s evidence that a problem could be minimised if caught early. I was impressed that they were happy to turn clients away if they didn’t think a treatment would be a good idea – it clearly isn’t all about the money.

Talking of money, these treatments, as you can imagine, don’t come cheap. With prices for botox starting at around the £200 pound mark, and fillers going up from this, a trip to sk:n isn’t something most people would be able to afford often. Dr Linda was very open about fees, and mentioned that although botox should be administered once every 4 months, that she would be happy to push this to 5 or even 6 months for clients who couldn’t afford more regular treatments.

So, have my feelings changed towards botox and other non surgical treatments since my trip to sk:n? Definitely. I’m not about to start saving up and booking my first treatment right away. I would hope to at least get into my thirties before I consider it, but consider it I would.

The lovely lady I spoke to whilst she had her botox and fillers was in her seventies and yet she looked incredible for her age. Not only that but she was glowing after her treatment – you could see how much confidence it gave her. Looking through the client galleries, it was clear that she wasn’t the only one to feel this way. In nearly every set of photos, the transformation was incredible. The people looked rejuvenated and sometimes like a whole new person.

Now don’t get me wrong, a couple of these photos I looked at and thought they hadn’t really needed to change anything, and a couple of them I preferred the before photo, but ultimately they didn’t change their appearance for me or anyone else, but for themselves.

So I won’t be ruling botox out in my future, and I’m really pleased I attended the launch of sk:n for such an interesting and eye opening experience.

Although I was invited along to the launch of the Bournemouth branch of sk:n I was under no obligation to write a post, I just found it really interesting.